Overview Four theoretical approaches to cognitive development Piaget’s theory Information processing theories Core knowledge theories Sociocultural theories (Vygotsky) General Themes Nature and nurture Continuity vs. discontinuity Active vs passive child Nurture (environment, learning) John Locke (1632-1704) –Infant’s mind as “tabula rasa” Behaviorism (e.g. Watson, Skinner) Nurture (environment, learning) 'A child's mind is a blank book. During the first years of his life, much will be written on the pages. The quality of that writing will affect his life profoundly.‘ Walt Disney Nature (biology, instinct) Children, like plants, simply “bloom”, following a timetable laid out in their genes (Gesell, 1933) “instinct is stronger than upbringing.” --Irish proverb How would a blank slate learn? Word learning ‘by association’ Word learning ‘by association’ Problems with association? category individual part color state of mind Jean Piaget (1896-1980) ‘Constructivist’ Child plays an active role in achieving developmental outcomes Stage like discontinuity Piaget “the study of stages of intelligence is first a study of the formation of operational structures. I shall define every stage by a structure of a whole, with the possibility of its integration into succeeding stages, just as it was prepared by preceding stages...
The world has experienced many changes in past generations, to the present. One of the very most important changes in life had to be the changes of children. Historians have worked a great deal on children’s lives in the past. “While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”- Author Unknown
The childhood of a young boy is very crucial in what he will be like in his own life.
Theories abound around how people develop emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. This essay will examine the theories of five leaders on the subject of development.
Instructor’s comment: This student’s essay performs the admirable trick of being both intensely personal and intelligently literary. While using children’s literature to reflect on what she lost in growing up, she shows in the grace of her language that she has gained something as well: an intelligent understanding of what in childhood is worth reclaiming. We all should make the effort to find our inner child
The theory of Cognitive development by Bruner can benefit greatly to overall development of the children when applied in an early years setting and in the home too. Children’s cognitive development has been viewed by different theorists, and they have found how they can help parents in their child’s development.
Developmental theories are broken up into two perspectives; Life-course, and Latent Trait. These perspectives may answer questions on why juveniles have grown to lead a destructive life-style and why others grow out of their delinquency. Latent trait explains that some tendencies we are may be born with and how important it is to be there for our children. Our parenting skills do have a profound effect on how our children may lack self control or have an impulsive behavior.
children learn the most important aspects of life young and if they’re not aware of what is
Children’s behaviors and reactions have always been so interesting to me. Studying Erikson, Piaget, and Kohlberg’s different theories on human development has given me a much deeper understanding of these behaviors. Although their theories are different, they do share three assumptions according to an article on SparkNotes.com: 1. People pass through stages in a specific order, with each stage building on capacities developed in the previous stage. 2. Stages are related to age. 3. Development is discontinuous, with qualitatively different capacities emerging in each stage” ("Psychology/Development," 2012, p. 1). While studying these three theorists it has affected my own idea of human development in two ways. Additionally, my view of how a patient has been raised has affected my nursing care. I admit that when I care for a child, a majority of the time I silently blame the parents for the improper actions of the child. It is easy for me to forgo disciplining an adolescent patient. I often say to myself, it is not the child’s fault and excuse them for their behaviors, mainly because I believed that is how they were raised and they don’t know better.
Off the five developmental theories, I would like to describe and explain two grand theories, Cognitive theory and Behaviorism.
...the blue print to their future characteristics and skills in adult life, this is observed by Dr Elizabeth Kilby, Dr Sam Wass and Psychologist Paul Howard Jones to have more of an understanding on how the children learn through their own experiences and not being adult led. Their home life and adult influences have a huge impact on their development and skills.
...ally acquire adult knowledge. Children are beautiful because they possess something that we have all lost – the quality of innocence. “We wish to keep adult knowledge from children because for all if its reality, too much of it too soon is quite likely dangerous to the well-being of an informed mind.” - Postman
In the eyes of a child, there is joy, there is laughter. But as time ages us, as soon as we flowered and became grown-ups the child inside us all fades that we forget that once, we were a child.
Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Many theories explain intelligence. Cattell, Gardener, Sternberg, Galton, & Spearman are just a few of those theorists. Intelligence is a wide scope and will be seen throughout this research paper. ‘‘Intelligence is the ability or abilities to acquire and use knowledge for solving problems and adapting to the world’’ (Woolfolk,1998).
Human development has been a subject of interest since ancient Greece and Rome. Different approaches derive from two basic directions: the nativists` and empiricists` ones. The latter method is to regard human development as a gradual change which has been influenced by the individual`s experience .On the other hand, the former approach has found its roots in the biological structure of the human organism which considers our development as a series of stages. However, referring to human development only as continuous or gradual would produce inconsistent and insufficient understanding of the developmental process .As a result, combining ideas of both viewpoints(continuity and phases) will provide a more explicit of understanding of the developmental processes and their final aim which is to create individual`s integrity within the social norms.